[Little Merchant: Boss, I won't lie to you. The market price for high-grade resource cards for wood and stone is fixed at 100 origin crystals. I'll give you ninety, just earning ten as a handling fee, how about it?]
Su Ye looked at the message from Lin Xiaoxiao with a hint of surprise in his eyes. He wasn't surprised by anything else, but rather that Lin Xiaoxiao's offer was very fair.
One must know that the so-called market prices were monopolized by the major chambers of commerce. In the system's trading house, they basically held a monopoly, and all pricing was decided by them.
Even if Su Ye tried to sell them himself, the final result would be failing to sell anything. What was your status? What was your background? What power did you have to dare sell at the same price as the chambers of commerce?
Originally, Su Ye thought Little Merchant would give him a price of eighty at most, but now it seemed he had underestimated Little Merchant.
[Otherworld Traveler: Deal.]
Su Ye looked at his high-grade wood resource cards and high-grade stone resource cards, thought for a moment, and directly applied for a trade.
Lin Xiaoxiao clicked open the trade application, and her small mouth formed an 'O' shape.
600 resource cards: 300 high-grade stone resource cards and 300 high-grade wood resource cards.
She had originally thought Su Ye would get a few dozen at most, but she didn't expect him to suddenly produce 600. It looked like Su Ye still had more in hand.
[Otherworld Traveler: Deducting the origin crystals I owed you before, you just need to give me 9,000 origin crystals.]
[Little Merchant: Okay, Boss!]
The transaction was completed, and Su Ye directly obtained 9,000 origin crystals.
Regarding this deal, Su Ye could only say he didn't lose out—he made a killing. One had to know that during the novice period, many things were sold cheaply. High-grade wood and stone resource cards at 90 each...
Even outside the novice period, ordinary lords couldn't buy them. At most, the big chambers of commerce would suppress the price down to fifty or sixty, and some heartless ones would even force a buyout at twenty or thirty.
[Little Merchant: Boss, it's a pleasure doing business with you. If you have good stuff, come straight to me. I'll also help you look for barracks refresh recruitment cards and barracks upgrade cards.]
Su Ye looked at the message from Little Merchant, smiled, and replied.
[Otherworld Traveler: A pleasure doing business with you.]
Afterward, Su Ye directly closed the private chat and finished his breakfast in a few bites.
"In the future, if there are Tech-side weapons I can sell, I can trade directly with her. In fact, continuous cooperation isn't out of the question," Su Ye couldn't help but think.
It wasn't that Su Ye didn't want to sell them himself, but first, he would face the sniping of those large chambers of commerce. Could he outplay them?
Don't say they couldn't find you; there was only what they didn't want to find, not what they couldn't find. Even using the dumbest method of confirming novice lords one by one wouldn't take them long. They would just kill anyone suspicious—it was that simple. Did anyone think they needed evidence?
The second reason was that eating alone makes it easy to die. The money in this world can never be fully earned. If you want to keep it all to yourself, you must have the ability to do so; otherwise, you're just waiting for death.
The third reason was to find a backer, a reliable one. Su Ye could see that this Little Merchant was considered the greatest Merchant Lord among this batch of novice lords.
The energy behind her was terrifyingly large. By the second day of the novice period, she had completed her network, channels, and resource collection—every aspect. The implications and meaning behind this were not simple.
The existence of such a person was a good thing for Su Ye, and for her, Su Ye was another reliable partner.
After all, there was more than one heir to a large chamber of commerce, and there was competition between them. As long as the items Su Ye provided had enough profit and value...
...then the relationship between Su Ye and this Little Merchant would be unbreakable.
Little Merchant needed Su Ye to prove her ability and value, and Su Ye needed Little Merchant to stand up for him as a backer. This was an inevitable outcome.
Of course, there was another main reason: Su Ye needed an identity that could appear in the open. The identity of a Tech-side lord was quite good.
One must know that in this world, the most terrifying thing wasn't being found, but not being found. When even a god-level existence couldn't find you...
...as long as they weren't a fool, they would know you had a problem.
Being found wasn't scary; not being found was the truly terrifying thing.
Before Su Ye became a lord, he was just an orphan in the main world. This was his background. The novice period would eventually pass, and at that time, Su Ye wouldn't have grown to the point of being invincible yet.
When that time came, Su Ye would need a plausible identity to account for himself while also better integrating into the society of lords. That was the key.
One can hide for a while, but not for a lifetime. The path to godhood was too long and too distant. Before having absolute power, Su Ye had better follow the rules of the game.
Returning to the present, Su Ye looked at his territory and made a decision.
First, develop Tech-side factories with full force. Second, produce as many Tech-side weapons as possible to cover up the existence of Lilith and the others. Third and last, demonstrate his value to build a solid foundation for cooperation with Little Merchant.
At the very least, ensuring this kind of relationship could continue after the novice period ended would be best.
"From now on, the territory's resources will center on the Tech-side, and everything will prioritize Tech-side development." Su Ye made his decision. Lilith and the others would have to move behind the scenes.
Although it was only the ninth day of the novice period, he had to be prepared. Cramming at the last minute was the easiest way to make mistakes. Starting now would allow him to fix any loopholes later.
"Are you finished eating?" Su Ye looked at Delmis beside him and said softly.
Delmis nodded.
"Let's go. Today's Void Trial is about to begin," Su Ye said to Delmis.
Delmis followed behind Su Ye and walked out of the Wine Pool and Meat Forest.
Afterward, Delmis went directly to assemble the The Solemnity of the Final Moon.
Lilith and the others had also long been prepared.
"System, start the Void Trial. Difficulty: Abyss!!" Su Ye's voice rang out.
[Ding: Void Trial starting. Difficulty: Abyss. You have thirty seconds to prepare.]
The familiar system notification sounded.
Boundless black-red mist enveloped the borders of Su Ye's territory.
Accompanied by terrifying roars, Abyssal Demons walked out of the black-red mist one by one. Their level was still bronze nine-star, unchanged, but their numbers were visibly much greater than yesterday's.
Su Ye watched this scene with understanding. Abyss difficulty was not static; even if the lords heart didn't Upgrade, it would increase as time passed.
However, today it seemed to have increased a bit too much. The speed at which those Abyssal Demons appeared was significantly faster.
"Something's not right." Su Ye watched the Abyssal Demons emerging at the edge of his territory. Their numbers grew larger and faster, as countless Abyssal Demons rushed out of the black-red mist, roaring as they invaded Su Ye's territory.
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